The present invention relates to an automated apparatus for dispensing a liquid whitener such as cream, half cream and half milk, whole milk, skim milk, 2% milk or creamer and a liquid additive such as liquid sugar, liquid French vanilla, liquid cinnamon, liquid hazelnut or liquid Irish cream. The liquid whitener and liquid additive are both dispensed in a single cup containing a potable beverage such as coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
Heretofore, milk has been dispensed by utilizing small (xc2xd ounce) plastic cups with a paper cover that is peeled off. This means of merchandising milk has many inherent problems, including, spoilage, waste, lost sales, higher operating costs, theft and low product variety. These portion packs are held in a plastic merchandiser that takes up approximately 8xe2x80x3 or more of counter space.
In order to flavor and whiten coffee in today""s market the customers only option is to use pre-flavored xc2xd ounce portion packs. These are pre-flavored within the portioned servings. The inherent problems remain spoilage, theft, waste and inflexibility. These portions packs are also held in a plastic merchandiser usually stacked above the milk portion packs.
It is also possible to dispense milk through a bulk milk dispenser having usually one or two plastic bulk bags of milk products in a refrigerated chamber. These types of units are designed for free flow type operation. Meaning that their customer would have to dislodge a lever in order to have the milk flow and then would have to re-engage the lever in order to stop the flow. Although these systems solved some of the problems like theft and spoilage they did not solve key flexibility and multi tasking problems that are addressed by the present invention. These machines are not capable of controlling a portion of milk, which is for example dispensing xc2xd ounce at a time. The other limiting factor is that most machines use one or two bags and therefore can dispense only one or two products. The operator does not have enough variety. If the operator wanted to dispense a flavored cream (French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Irish Cream etc) from one of these units the operator would have to remove one of the milk products. Therefore, in order to add more than two types of products the operator would have to add another machine as a result the operator has to use up additional counter space which is extremely valuable to the c-store and restaurant operator. The standard bulk cream machine is currently 14xe2x80x3 wide, if the operator wants to add an additional option they must add an additional bulk whitener and utilize an additional 14 inches in counter space. In order to offer the same product variety as the 16xe2x80x3 wide apparatus to be described, the current market options would require the utilization of 54xe2x80x3 or more of counter space.
Sugar packets or Sweet and Low packets contain 15 grams of sweetener and are merchandised in plastic containers that can take up 8 to 10 inches of counter space. The inherent problems with this system are waste, messiness, theft and lost sales due to non-availability of the products due to the aforementioned reasons. A disadvantage is also the fact that these packets must be stored in containers that take up valuable counter space. In the food service/convenience store industry counter space utilization is instrumental in the success of a store. So much so that profits are calculated on a square inch basis. The sweetener section will occupy approximately 8 inches.
In order for the operator to offer his customer a flavored (French Vanilla, Irish Cream, Hazelnut etc.) coffee he would have to brew a complete batch of coffee produced from flavored ground coffee beans. As a result the operator would have to carry an extra stock of ground coffee. If he wants to offer four flavors in order to increase sales he would have to carry four extra stock in his store. The brewing of flavored coffee has also been curtailed in the past because of the fact that flavored coffees are only consumed during certain parts of the day. Also because of the fact that a complete batch had to be brewed and coffee flavor dissipated after 2 hours the operator has to throw away most of the batch.
The present invention provides an automated apparatus that requires less frequent refill servicing to support several choices of liquid whiteners and liquid additives than the traditional or current technologies.
The present invention seeks to provide an automated apparatus for dispensing a liquid whitener and a liquid additive in a cup or the like, said apparatus comprising: (a) a source of liquid whitener and a whitener tube, said source of liquid whitener being in fluid communication with said whitener tube, said whitener tube comprising a whitener outlet open to the atmosphere; (b) a source of liquid additive and an additive line, said source of liquid additive being in fluid communication with said additive line, said additive line comprising an additive outlet open to the atmosphere; (c) a whitener control connected to said whitener tube; (d) an additive control connected to said additive line; and (e) a control board having at least one switch actuatable by a user for allowing the user to select a liquid whitener and a liquid additive, said control board being connected to said whitener and additive controls, wherein, in operation, said whitener control allows dispersion of a predetermined amount of the selected liquid whitener through said whitener outlet, said additive control allows dispersion of a predetermined amount of the selected liquid additive through said additive outlet.
More preferably, the apparatus comprises a control board having a plurality of actuatable switches that are selectively actuated by a user and represent at least one of the following liquid whiteners: cream, half cream and half milk, whole milk, skim milk, 2% milk or creamer, the board also having a plurality of actuatable switches that are selectively actuated by a user and represent at least one of the following liquid additives: sugar, French vanilla, Irish cream, cinnamon and Hazelnut.
The whitener control comprises a solenoid having an actuator capable of engaging the whitener tube, the actuator being moveable from an open position wherein the whitener outlet is open, to a close position wherein the actuator engages the whitener tube for sealing the whitener outlet. Preferably, the movement of the actuator is regulated by a dampening means. In fact, the whitener control may comprise a proportional solenoid.
The apparatus may comprise a plurality of sources of liquid whitener, a plurality of whitener tubes, a plurality of sources of liquid additive, a plurality of additive lines, a plurality of whitener controls and a plurality of additive controls. Moreover, for each of the whitener tubes, a plurality of additive lines may be provided, the outlets of the plurality of additive lines being located around the whitener tube.
In order to maintain sanitary conditions, each of the sources of liquid whitener is in fluid communication with a separate whitener control that is in turn connected to a separate whitener tube. Likewise, each of the sources of liquid additive is in fluid communication with a separate additive control that is in turn connected to a separate additive line. The separate additive line may include a plurality of additive outlets however.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and the drawings.